The US public relations company Hill and Knowlton says its revenue grew by 10 per cent in the Middle East last year, highlighting the region as one of a handful of bright spots in an otherwise dark period for the PR industry.
Much of that growth occurred in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, where oil and gas-fuelled economies remained engines of expansion for marketing and communications despite a tough global economy, said Paul Taaffe, the chairman and chief executive of Hill and Knowlton.
"There were very few international firms that grew 10 per cent, which is basically what these guys did" in the Middle East, he said. "Globally, we had a small dip on the prior year, which was our record year. The decline was mainly out of western Europe, but this region here was one of our strongest parts of the world."
Other strong markets last year for the company, which is owned by the WPP Group, included India, Russia, Canada, Norway and Thailand, Mr Taaffe said. But the Middle East has special significance for the company, which was the first of the major international PR operators to open an office here when it entered the market 25 years ago.
At the time, the move might have been premature, but the early entry helped the company capitalise on prodigious growth in the region in the past decade, Mr Taaffe said.
"The founder of the agency believed very strongly that this part of the world was under-represented when it came to public relations counsel, particularly when it was dealing internationally," he said.
The Middle East no longer suffers from an underdeveloped PR sector but still faces communications challenges, Mr Taaffe said.
"Even today, when I talk to Arab companies, they really feel it's a struggle to be able to communicate, particularly to the West," he said. "They really feel that there are different rules to play by when it comes to communication."
This struggle has been on display in the international media in recent months, as Dubai faced a rash of negative press in the wake of Dubai World's call in November for a debt standstill. Mr Taaffe said the experience should be used as a communications lesson for Dubai's future, which he believed was bright.
"If you aren't communicating, then basically other people write the story for you, about you," he said. "And I think that's what happened in Dubai. Other people drove the story forward. There was a little bit of jealousy in certain quarters, a little bit of Schadenfreude, and Dubai failed to actually step into that vacuum quickly enough."
Mr Taaffe expects governments to be a major driver of growth for the PR industry, in the Middle East and globally. His firm has a wide array of government-related clients in the region, including, in the UAE, the Federal National Council and the Federal Government's Communications Office. Much of the company's governmental work in the region, such as recent projects in Afghanistan and Bahrain, involves training personnel in government agencies to conduct their own communications.
"Government as a client is a growth area for us around the world, and in the Middle East," he said. "It's because firms have done this professionally for many years, and governments have tended not to. The communications problems that governments are facing are getting incredibly complex, and when it reaches a certain level of complexity, they tend to outsource it to specialist firms."
With high unemployment and the rising costs of health care in many of the world's largest economies, the communications needs of governments are likely to increase as their problems grow in complexity.
The key for governments, as for companies, is to tell the truth and tell it quickly, Mr Taaffe said.
"Our job is to represent the truth, even when it's bad, because you can always function if things are true," he said. "People believe you. They will give you the benefit of the doubt. They will give you an opportunity to do something about it. "
@Email:khagey@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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2.
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China
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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South Korea
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8.15pm (UAE)
Sunday: Chelsea v Southampton, 6pm (UAE)
Matches on Bein Sports
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE SPECS
Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 518bhp
Torque: 625Nm
Speed: 0-100kmh 5.3 seconds
Price: Dh633,435
On sale: now
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Ferrari
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More on animal trafficking
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
Kandahar%20
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Most%20polluted%20cities%20in%20the%20Middle%20East
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MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on animal trafficking
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
Brief scores:
Toss: Australia, chose to bat
Australia: 272-9 (50 ov)
Khawaja 100, Handscomb 52; Bhuvneshwar 3-48
India: 237 (50 ov)
Rohit 56, Bhuvneshwar 46; Zampa 3-46
Player of the Match: Usman Khawaja (Australia)
Player of the Series: Usman Khawaja (Australia)